Michelle Obama says she enjoys ‘really bad TV,’ lazy days curled up with first dog Bo

A guilty pleasure for first lady: ‘really bad TV’

WASHINGTON — Michelle Obama says curling up with the first family’s dog and clicking through food and design shows on television provide moments of peace amid a busy schedule.

During an interview to mark her selection as Barbara Walters’ most fascinating person of the year, the first lady said her guilty pleasures involve food and “really bad TV.” She also said her toned arms are a bit of “revenge” against her in-shape husband, President Barack Obama

“My really lazy days are I sit with Bo, who usually climbs up on my lap. He thinks he’s a lap dog,” she said of the Obamas’ large Portuguese water dog. “He’ll cozy up with me, and I’m just clicking through mindless shows. A lot of, you know, shows about food and design, and all that good stuff. And it’s just quiet, and I’m not thinking about anything for that second — not about the kids, not about my husband, not about my schedule. If I get an hour of that during the course of a week, it feels like heaven.”

Mrs. Obama went on about her connection with the dog, a gift from the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy: “Bo is my baby, he’s our son. He’s wonderful. He’s growing. It’s like I’m a mother. You ask about my kid, I’m gone.”

Talking about her human children, Mrs. Obama said her workout routine began when Sasha and Malia were babies.

“I really started right after I had Malia, our oldest,” Mrs. Obama said.

“(Malia) was still waking up for that 4 o’clock feeding and I’d get up because I’d be the first one to hear her, and he’d be asleep,” she continued. “And I thought, ‘I’m up, I might as well go to the gym. And if I get to the gym, then he’ll have to wake up and do that feeding.’ I get a workout in and everyone will be happy.”

On a more serious subject, Mrs. Obama said her husband would not have sought the White House had she nixed the idea. She said she didn’t want to stand in the way of her husband’s dreams or leadership.

“I think I made the right call,” Mrs. Obama said.